FE: A Tale Better Left Untold
by Xx9ZeroxX9
Summary: "Some things are better left unsaid..." no other words could be more true in this retelling of Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword; as the journey goes on, secrets of the past will be revealed, one by one...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello fellow Fire Emblem Mark X Lyn lovers out there. I just have a few things to point out before you start reading, its only two things; no big deal. **

**Ok first, I'm writing this story because, well I'm being curious as to how I can write a Fire Emblem fic of my favorite couple. **

**Second thing and the one that honestly made me think that Mark X Lyn is actually canon: for those that have played Fire Emblem 6; you know that Lyn doesn't exist in that game at all. Not one bit. Then when I played 7 I was like "wait a minute, what?" So I started thinking. "Why would they make Lyn a character so damn important in a game that's supposed to be the prequel to a game that already came out, and like she doesn't even exist in that game?" I was like: "why couldn't they just start the game with Eliwood's story from the very beginning?" Sure it might have been a bit shorter than other games, but it was still good. And when you get to Caelin after driving out Marquess Laus from his territory, why didn't they just make the Marquess of Caelin's granddaughter a myrmidon or an NPC that you have to protect through the whole battle? It would have made much more sense than just making her a character that everybody loves and for her to disappear of the face of the world in the sequel or the game that came before 7 that's a sequel or WHATEVER YOU CALL THAT! Well anyway, sorry for that, as I was saying it makes more sense for that to have happened. Then I was like, "if they made Mark a character, would he/her have the option to like well get married and all?" Yes I know I said her as in Female Mark/Tactician X Lyn and you know what? I don't give a damn. I'm just trying to make a point here and I think it's not getting across that well. **

**Anyway, I think you get what I mean and if not, then I suck at explaining. **

**Disclamer: I don't own Fire Emblem. If I did, MarkxLyn would be canon; IkexElincia would have happened at the end of Fire Emblem 11 and not Ike leaving like an asshole! Anyway, I rambled too much in a disclamer, sorry. Again, I don't own Fire Emblem.**

**Prologue: A girl from the plains**

Fire. Everywhere he looked, everything was on fire. Dead corpses surrounded him. In front of him was a woman crying over the corpse of her husband. Around them bandits kept going from tent to tent, killing each and every single villager.

"Why are you doing this?" asked the woman as her tears streamed down her face

The man smiled a cold, sadistic, evil smile as he leaned down and picked the nearest sword. He then ran it through her heart, slowly and painfully, enjoying her pain filled face.

The man then took the sword out of her and laughed as her life slowly left her eyes.

"Ahh!" yelled the man as he bolted from the bed he was sleeping in, wait bed? Last thing he remembered was him passing out in the plains.

"_Wait a minute, the plains?" he looked around the room "Oh no no no, please don't tell me I was saved by-"_

Just then a woman, who seemed to be around 17 years of age, entered the room.

"Oh good, you're ok" she said "I thought something happened when I heard you scream"

The man looked at her, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"Is something wrong?" she asked

The man noticed he was staring and he looked away "No, nothing at all, just uhh, something I dreamt"

"Well, I'm glad you're alright then, I found you unconscious on the plains and brought you here"

She left the room and 2 minutes later she came back with some water which she handed to him. He took it, thanked her and drank a bit. She then sat on the chair next to the bed

"Would you mind telling me your name?" she asked "I'm Lyn of the Lorca tribe"

The man looked at her and debated telling her; right now actually, he didn't even want to be here, but he still told her his name'

"It's uhh… Mark"

"Mark? What an odd sounding name…" She then looked to Mark and saw that he was in a heartbroken fashion over calling him odd and quickly corrected herself "But pay me no mind, it's a good name!"

He nodded, still a bit heartbroken

"So…" she tried to find a topic to talk about, it's been quite a while since she had a visitor "What were you doing out on the plains?"

He started coughing on the water he was drinking and hit his chest a few times

"Are you okay?" asked a concerned Lyn

He coughed a bit "Y-yeah I'm fine" he reassured her "So uhh, you wanted to know why I was on the plains?"

Lyn nodded slowly

Mark scratched the back of his head with his left hand "Well…"

Just then they heard some noises

Lyn stood up "Wait here I'll go investigate"

Not a moment later Lyn returned

"What's going on?" asked a concerned Mark

"Bandits, 2 of them, it looks like they came down from the Bern Mountains"

"_Great…just what I needed" _Thought Mark sarcastically

Lyn grabbed a sword that was hanging off the wall "Stay in here and rest, I'll ward them off"

Lyn then turned to leave, but Mark held her back before she could do so "Wait…I can help"

Lyn didn't seem convinced "Are you sure? I don't think you should fight in your condition."

At this Mark turned and sighed, but looked at her again "I'm…a war strategist of sorts, still an apprentice, but I know enough to help direct you to drive off those bandits quickly without much struggle, besides, I owe you for helping me."

Lyn still looked reluctantly at letting this man out and about in the middle of a fight with his wounds still healing, but still saw logic in his words "…fine, but make sure to stay away from them as you direct me, alright?" Mark nodded and got out of the bed, wincing a bit from his injuries but still following the sacaen woman out the ger.

Outside, Mark scouted the field and indeed there were two bandits. One was near the neighboring ger on the other side of the field while the other one was nearing Lyn's ger.

"_This won't be too hard, though it depends on Lyn's skills"_ thought Mark and he picked out one of his simplest strategies.

"Lyn, draw his attention, but let him come to you. Bandits tend to rush and not think ahead, so the moment he rushes at you, dodge then retaliate. If you move swift enough, it won't take more than one duel to finish him"

Lyn nodded and moved ahead.

The bandit saw her moving and stopping a few feet away from him. He smirked and rushed for an axe swing but Lyn dodged and quickly finished him off with a quick but precise slice to the neck. Mark walked forward and saw the other bandit moving towards them.

"_This bandit seems to possess a small amount of skill, not unlike his partner and he is stronger"_

"Lyn, this one might be a challenge so stay on your toes; keep dodging as best you can for now"

Lyn nodded and got ready to fight against the bandit.

The bandit stopped a few feet away from them and stared at them before smirking.

"You think you can stand up to Batta the Beast, little girl?"

Lyn didn't answer and steeled her senses for the fight.

Batta rushed, just like the other bandit, but his swings were shorter and more precise. Lyn dodged to the best of her abilities, barely avoiding each swing, one coming dangerously close to her neck. She was able to dodge it in time, just receiving a small cut around her left shoulder. As Lyn kept dodging, Mark noticed something about Batta. His swings were more precise and short, but he was getting slower and slower, which means that it was time to finish him off.

"Lyn, wait until he swings again and strike!"

She did just that and Batta fell to his knees before hitting the ground with a loud thud. Lyn was panting heavily as Mark walked over to her.

"…that was close…" panted Lyn

"You did good Lyn, not bad" Mark gave her a smile but noticed the small injury

"You're hurt"

Lyn looked at her left shoulder and noticed the bleeding "This? It's nothing don't worry" she stood up and after wiping her sword clean of blood on the grass, sheathed it. "Well, let's go back"

When they made it back to the ger, Lyn treated her shoulder with some vulnerary, after which, she took a piece of cloth to fully clean her blade "Oh! I almost forgot, I put your belongings in the other rooms"

Mark stiffened a bit _"Uh oh…please don't tell me she looked through my things!"_

Lyn noticed it but quickly reassured him "Don't worry, I didn't look through your things, I'm not for prying into others possessions "She got up and started to walk towards the other room " Let me get them for you"

"Don't trouble yourself, I can get them. You should focus on your blade" Mark remarked as he got up quickly to look for his belongings.

Lyn looked curiously at Mark and wondered why he seemed so nervous, but shrugged it off. A moment later Mark returned with a bundle, a black book, and a brown book. He set the bundle on the foot of bed and sat down. He put the brown book next to him as he inspected the black one. After carefully making sure nothing bad happened to it, he sighed in relief.

"Is everything okay?"

Mark looked up from the book and saw Lyn staring curiously at him.

He nodded "Yeah, everything's fine" he then picked up the brown book and put the black one where the brown one was.

He inspected the book in the same fashion but he opened this one and searched the pages one by one, making sure nothing happened to it. After making sure the book was not damaged he nodded to himself.

Lyn was finished cleaning her sword, which was now in its scabbard and wondered if she should ask him what she wanted to ask. Minutes went by and she just decided to ask.

"Mark, you're a traveler right?"

Mark nodded, wondering where this was going

"And most of the times, travelers come under attacks from bandits"

Mark already had a pretty good idea of what Lyn wanted

"Lyn I-"

"Mark, please let me travel with you!" she asked before he could finish

"I-I don't think-"

"Please Mark!" she pleaded

Mark sighed "…Okay"

Lyn hugged him out of joy "Thanks Mark!"

Mark scratched the back of his head nervously "Y-yeah sure" Lyn let him go "But I'm going to have to know your reasons"

"Well, I need to, no; I _want_ to be stronger, strong enough so nobody can beat me, strong enough so I can-" she cut herself off as the memory of what happened six months ago passed through her mind'

Mark noticed her sad look and decided to ask something he's been wondering. He stood up and walked towards Lyn's desk where he was inspecting some cloths with his eyes.

"Lyn, can I ask you something?"

"S-sure"

"You said you're from the Lorca tribe right?" Mark looked at her

Lyn nodded

"I heard some rumors that, six months ago, the Lorca were wiped out by the Taliver bandits. Are you a survivor?"

Lyn nodded again "Yes I am. The Taliver bandits poisoned our water and attacked us at night" Lyn looked down as tears threatened to fall "…It only took one night…"

Mark looked back at her "I'm sorry to hear that, maybe I shouldn't have asked"

"No, it's alright" she wiped her tears away and took a deep calming breath "You didn't know"

Mark eyed the cloths on Lyn's desk and asked.

"By the design of these cloths, I'm assuming you were the related to the chieftain?"

Lyn nodded "I was the chieftain's daughter…but… that meant nothing to my people when I tried to lead them to escape from the Taliver bandits. They saw me only as a woman…they were so old-fashioned, but I still…I still cared for my tribe."

A few more moments of silence went by before Mark spoke

"So tell me, when do we leave?"

Lyn looked at him, a bit surprised "What?"

"I asked, when do we leave?" he smiled "I did say that you can travel with me didn't I?"

Lyn smiled "Thank you Mark" Lyn then thought of when they could leave and what their first stop would be "We could leave tomorrow morning, and stop at Bulgar to buy supplies"

"Sounds like a plan, tomorrow then"

That night, while Lyn was sleeping in her bed, Mark was sitting down on the chair at the desk and had picked up the bundle, which he was staring at.

He sighed _"What have I gotten myself into?"_

**A/N: Well, there you go. My first chapter of ATBLU (I know the acronym sounds weird), hope you enjoyed. Remember to review please.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hell again. I give you the next chapter of this tale. Also, thanks to all who reviewed. Seriously, thank you, I really appreciated your reviews/criticism. I'll try and make Mark a bit less plain, but no promises. Also, for the fight scenes, if anyone has any idea how I can improve on them, please tell me. I've read a couple FE 7 retelling that have Mark and Lyn as the main couple/characters, but sadly most aren't completed. And actually writing my strategies is kind of hard for me. The fight scenes though, aren't that hard. Well anyway, hope you enjoy.**

Mark, a travelling tactician. Lyn, a sacaen plainswoman. A chance meeting sets them together on a life altering journey. What will happen to this strange duo?

"So Lyn, how long will it take us to reach Bulgar?" asked Mark as he and Lyn headed towards Bulgar

"Well…" she thought for a moment "It'll take us about two days to reach Bulgar."

Mark nodded "Good, this way I'll be able to plan our path."

Lyn nodded, smiling.

-At the entrance to Bulgar

"Sain, hurry it up!" yelled out a knight in red armor

"I'm coming, I'm coming…" said Sain with a yawn "…sheesh Kent; I know we need to look for Lady Madelyn and her family, but traveling for two days straight without a break, after arriving in the Sacae Plains is a bit too much, don't you think?"

"Two days without sleep is nothing for a knight" Kent looked back at his companion atop his horse. Sain looked like he'd fall any second now. Kent might think that Sain, for a knight, was pathetic, but as a friend, he did care for Sain.

Kent sighed "Let's go find an inn."

Sain would have said something if he wasn't busy sleeping while mounted. Good thing his horse was smart to follow Kent. They had found an inn after asking around and he pleasantly dumped Sain in his room. Sain momentarily woke up…and rolled to the floor.

"Kent…" Sain grumbled on his place on the floor "Can't you be a bit gentler?" that's when he noticed Kent heading to the door "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to ask around town for the whereabouts of Lady Madelyn." Kent opened the door and looked back at Sain "You had best get some rest" he walked out of the room and closed the door

Sain then climbed into bed, not even bothering to take of his armor and went to sleep.

Sain woke up three hours later to Kent shaking him awake. Sain groaned as he groggily opened his eyes, but when he saw Kent's worried face he was immediately up and alert.

"What happened?"

Kent sat down on the other bed in the room. He took a deep breath and spoke.

"Lady Madelyn is…dead…"

Sain's eyes widened as he processed this information "W-wait what?"

"Lady Madelyn and her family are dead, Sain."

"When…how?"

"The elder I talked to said thata group of bandits killed the Lorca Tribe, of which Lady Madelyn joined, some six months ago…just a few days after sending that letter"

"Were there any survivors?" asked a hopeful Sain. Maybe her family survived, if they did, he didn't have to go back and give this horrible news to Lord Hausen.

Kent shook his head "He said he couldn't remember if any survived"

Sain closed his right hand into a fist and he hit the wall next to him "Dammit! After all this time, without knowing anything of his daughter…!" Sain sighed, calming down "What are we going to do now?"

"I wouldn't want to disappoint Lord Hausen, but...there's nothing we can do now." Kent sighed "We'll start travelling back to Caelin in tomorrow"

Sain looked at Kent, surprised he didn't want to leave today; it wasn't even the afternoon yet.

"Kent…?"

"Today, I just want to rest"

Sain nodded and stood up. He then took of his armor and laid it on his bed. He then searched through his pack and changed into more comfortable clothes.

"Where are you going Sain?"

"I'm gonna have a look around town"

'_More like flirt with woman…again' _thought Kent amused while shaking his head

"Well, see you later" and with that Sain opened the door and left the room, while closing the door behind him.

'_Truthfully, you just want to think of something else'_

-The next day

Kent was at the stable where he left his and Sain's horses. Sain had already taken his and was supposed to be waiting for him, but knowing Sain, he was off flirting with woman. He was going to have to find Sain and give him a good lecture. He took his horse and mounted on it when he noticed the senior citizen he talked to yesterday, coming his way.

"Hello, sir" greeted Kent

"Hello Sir Knight. Good thing I caught up with you before you left" said the elder

"Why? Is something wrong?" asked Kent

"No, but there is something I forgot to tell you yesterday concerning Madelyn"

Kent's eyes widened "What is it?"

"Madelyn and Hassar's daughter is still alive and well"

Kent was shocked "You mean the Lady Lyndis?! Where can I find her?"

"Well, she usually visits town every two weeks to buy supplies. She should be visiting in about two days. But she lives in the plains, near where the Lorca Tribe originally was until that…horrible night" the elder shuddered just thinking about it "You could wait until she arrives, but you can give her a visit. She lives to the west of town, two days walk from here, but with your horse, it shouldn't take you much more than half a day if you gallop there"

Kent nodded "Thank you for the information, good sir."

The old man smiled "Any time, oh and if you're thinking of waiting wait by the west gate, that's where she usually enters from. Well, I must be going; good luck" the old man then turned and walked away

Kent then rushed out with his horse to look for Sain. A few minutes later, he found Sain, atop his horse, flirting with two women and failing. Kent moved his horse forward and called out to Sain who turned around and gave Kent a sheepish smile of being caught, again.

"Sain, there's something I need to talk to you about"

Sain was about to say something but Kent cut him off.

"Privately"

Sain, defeated, bid farewell to the ladies and followed after Kent.

Back in their room; at the inn.

"Sain, I just received some good news"

Sain blinked "What are they?"

"As it turns out, the Lady Lyndis is still alive"

Sain jumped up at these news "Really?!"

Kent nodded

"That's great! Now Lord Hausen won't be depressed! So where can we find her so we can take her back?" Sain was ecstatic.

"Calm down Sain" Kent was happy also, but he was more controlled than Sain "According to the elder, she lives alone on the plains, to the west of town; approximately a two day travel by foot, but no more than half a day by horse."

"Then let's go!" Sain almost rushed out the door

"Wait Sain!"

Sain almost tripped but was able to balance himself out and he turned around

"What? We know where she lives, so why don't we just go and look for her?" questioned Sain

"If you would let me finish…" Kent sighed "The elder also told me she visits town every two weeks to buy supplies. She apparently has a day for that every two weeks since the elder mentioned that she could be here in two days"

"So what you're saying is that, if we were to go now, we might miss her since she's probably on her way here?"

"Precisely"

Sain slumped "So what do we do?"

"We wait."

Sain nodded then smiled. _'Well, since we're going to be waiting for two days…' _he thought as he set a hand to his chin in a thinking pose

"Sain, I know what you're thinking, please do not try-"

He then heard the door close. Kent face palmed. _'He'll never learn'_

-The next day

Mark and Lyn were travelling up a hill. According to Lyn, right after the hill, is where Bulgar was.

"So Mark, have you thought of where we'll be headed after Bulgar?" asked a curious and excited Lyn

"Well…" Mark thought about it a little bit and then spoke "I thought we could go to..." _'Should I really say it? Maybe we could go somewhere else?' _he shook his head _'No; I can't do that, I need to do this'_

"Mark, are you okay?"

Mark was taken out of his thoughts and he looked over to Lyn who was looking at him worriedly

"Y-yeah I'm okay; well the place I thought of, was Caelin"

Lyn nodded "But, why Caelin?"

"Well, because…uh…" _'Think Mark, think!' _"To…" he snapped his fingers, thinking of something "Because I want to see how the Caelin knights fight; you know, to see if I can learn of how to handle different types of units in a battle, just in case we get more people to travel with."

Lyn nodded "That seems like a good reason, then to Caelin it is!"

Lyn looked ahead and smiled "Come on Mark!" she ran ahead

Mark then ran after her. He caught up to her at the top of the hill. When he arrived he saw Lyn looking at the town.

She looked to her right to see Mark. "Well Mark, here we are"

She stood in front of him and spread her arms "The commercial city of Bulgar!"

**Chapter 1: Footsteps of Fate**

Mark and Lyn had entered Bulgar and were now going through the town in search of shops.

"This place is livelier than I thought" murmured Mark, surprised by the number of people. He then turned to Lyn

"So, what will we need to buy for the journey?"

"Well, for starters, we'll need food."

Mark nodded and they both headed to the market.

-About two hours later

They had first bought travelling packs, as they forgot theirs, and then bought supplies for their journey. Lyn was surprised that Mark had quite a bit of gold on him. But they were going to have to be careful with it, at least until they find ways of getting more. Right now they were headed towards the inn when…

"Oh, my heart! What a dazzling vision of loveliness!"

They looked back to see a green armored man riding atop a horse.

"Oh beauteous one, would you favor me with your name, or better yet your company?" he said, looking at Lyn and putting on his best smile ever.

Lyn looked at him "Where are you from, sir knight that you speak so freely to a stranger?" she asked

"I thought you'd never ask!" Sain then cleared his throat "I am Sain and I hail from the Caelin canton, home of men of passion and fire!"

"More like home of callous oafs with loose tongues" spoke Lyn with a sharp tongue

"Oh! You wound me with your sharp words" he said in mock hurt

Lyn turned back to Mark "Come Mark; I have no more words to say" and she then walked away towards the inn

Mark sighed, bid farewell to Sain and ran to catch up to Lyn. Sain was about to go follow them but…

"Sain!"

Sain flinched _'Uh oh'_

At the inn in the last vacant room

"I cannot believe that knight!" said Lyn angrily "I thought knights were supposed to be 'chivalrous' and 'courteous to woman' and all that! But he seemed to be the complete opposite of it!"

Mark sighed

"And you!" she pointed and accusing finger at Mark

"Me?" Mark pointed at himself in confusion

"Yes you! You said we were going to Caelin! The same place that knight came from! If all knights are like that then-"

Mark raised his hands in defense "Wait Lyn, just calm down. I don't think all the knights from Caelin are like that, besides I didn't even know I swear!"

"Fine" Lyn sat down in her bed "but could we travel to someplace else first?"

Mark inwardly sighed _'Well there's goes that' _"Okay, I'll think of where to go then, I do have a couple places I planned on visiting which are closer anyway."

Lyn nodded "Thanks"

At another room at the inn

"Sain, how many times must I tell you?" asked Kent

"But Kent, it was such an extravagant woman! It would have been very discourteous if I had not spoken to her"

"Since when do you know anything about courtesy!?" almost yelled out Kent "Have you forgotten our mission?"

"N-not at all!"

"Then please control yourself around women! When we meet the Lady Lyndis tomorrow, I do not want you to act in that manner. I do not want her thinking that all Caelin knights are like that. We have to set an example of how the Caelin knights are, to her. We cannot afford to fail this mission Sain, you know that."

Sain sighed "I know, I know. But it's tomorrow! Can't I have a little bit of fun today?"

Kent gave Sain an intimidating stare.

'_Guess not…'_

Next day

Lyn and Mark were heading to the east gate, with all their supplies neatly arranged in each of their packs. He had placed his two books inside his pack, though he still carried the bundle in his left hand. Lyn was still curious about the three items Mark had, but she never asked what it was.

"What a coincidence that we have met again, my lovely damsel!"

Lyn grew a tick mark, while Mark sighed. They looked forward towards the gate, to see Sain.

"It must be fate we meet here!"

"No, not fate. Just bad luck" murmured Mark

Mark looked over to Lyn to see that she was slowly loosing her temper. Sain, oblivious to Lyn's rising anger, was about to speak again until…

"Sain, hold your tongue!"

Sain flinched and nervously looked to his right to see and angry Kent.

"H-hello Kent" Sain nervously smiled

"Sain you oaf! Did you forget our mission!?"

Sain raised his hands in defense "N-no, not at all! I was just uhhh"

"Flirting again!" Kent yelled out "Sain if you keep this up, then when we meet-"

Lyn cleared her throat, getting the attention of Kent and Sain.

"Excuse me but, could you move your horses, their in the way"

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry miss" Kent apologized and grabbed both his and Sain horses by the reins, moving them from the gate.

"Thank you, you at least, seem honorable enough" said Lyn

"Thank you for the complement miss" he then turned to Sain "Now Sain, how many times have I-"

He stopped in his tracks and looked to the gate Lyn and Mark left from.

"Wait a minute…" he thought about Caelin and the paintings he saw of Madelyn "That woman…" he compared her face to that of Madelyn. A splitting image. "Sain, hurry we need to follow them now!"

"Huh? Why?" asked Sain

"Because that woman was the Lady Lyndis!" Kent got on his horse and followed after them

"W-wait, she's what!?" Sain immediately got on his horse and followed after Kent

Though, because of the rustle and bustle of the town, they had to be careful with the townsfolk.

-Outside of town

"Well, that knight in red seemed much better than Sain" spoke Mark

"I still don't want to visit Caelin" said Lyn

Mark sighed _'Damn, ok, think Mark, think, how the hell will you convince her to come with you to Caelin?'_

They then heard something approaching.

"Who is it?" asked Mark

"Do you think it's the knights?" wondered Lyn who turned to look at the gate

Mark then suddenly pushed Lyn onto the ground, just in time to avoid an axe swipe that was sure to cleave her in two. Mark then hit the bandit in the jaw with his bundle. The bandit staggered back and 5 more bandits appeared and surrounded Mark and Lyn. Lyn got to her feet and stood back to back with Mark.

"You must be Lyndis, ain't ya?" spoke one of the bandits

Lyn's eyes widened "How do you know that name?!"

The bandits sighed "The things I'll do for a few gold, oh well; men, kill them."

Lyn took out her sword and Mark sighed.

'_I didn't want to use this but…' _he pressed a hand to the pack on his right hip.

But then they heard the sound of hooves fast approaching. They all turned to look at the gate just in time to see two knights kill two of the bandits.

Mark sighed in relief_ 'Good, look like I didn't need to use it'_

The bandits then scattered and regrouped a farther away from the group.

"Milady, are you alright?" asked Kent

Lyn nodded "Yes, thank you"

"Good, there are some things we need to speak about but that can wait until we finish off these bandits"

Lyn nodded skeptically "What's your name?"

"I am Kent, a knight in the service to Caelin"

"And you already know me as Sain!" spoke Sain

"Yes, I remember you; the knight that tries to get it on with whatever pretty lady he meets" she spoke, barely keeping her temper in check.

Sain made a twitchy smile as he scratched his left cheek with his index finger. Kent shook his head.

"Milady, command us as you will!"

Lyn shook her head "Actually, the one who'll lead here is Mark"

Kent nodded "Then Sir Mark, we leave our lives in your hands"

Mark nodded "Ok then"

Mark walked a bit further to survey the area and locate the bandits. He saw the nearest one near a few trees to the south, another one to the north before a small bridge and the last one behind that one, just a few feet away.

Mark nodded to himself.

"Ok, Sain, I want you to go towards those trees and defeat that bandit; Kent, you're with him" they both nodded "Then I-"

Mark stopped and they turned to him to see what was wrong. When they looked at him, they saw him looking at Sain.

"Sain, what's that you're holding?" he asked pointing at Sain's weapon

"A lance" spoke Sain simply

Then Kent noticed and he facepalmed

"Sain, question: lances are weaker against axes, are they not?" asked Mark wearily

"Yes, I believe so" he answered

"Then, why don't you put away the lance, and take out your sword, you do have one right?"

Sain formed his twitchy smile again and started scratching his cheek again

"I…forgot to buy a sword"

Lyn facepalmed _'Seriously, I am not going to Caelin, no matter the reason, especially not with Sain! How the hell did he made knight? Is it that easy to be a knight of Caelin? They must not be any good then.'_

"Sain you lout!" Kent took a deep breath and unbuckled the sword he bought "Here, use my spare"

Sain took it "Thanks Kent, I'll try and let it not happen again!" he then charged towards the bandit

Kent shook his head

"Sir Kent, we'll regroup on the other side of those bridges" said Mark

Kent nodded and followed after Sain, who was fighting against the bandit

Mark then turned to Lyn "We'll head towards the bandit to the north"

Lyn nodded and both ran towards the bandit.

The bandits didn't put up much of a fight. Kent and Sain quickly made short work of their target and rushed towards the other side of the bridge. Lyn alone had been able to beat the second bandit and was waiting on the other side of the south bridge with Mark. After the knights arrived, they all followed Mark's order and quickly defeated their leader.

-After the battle

"Good work everyone" said Mark

They all nodded and Lyn turned to the knights

"You said you had something you needed to speak to us about?"

Kent nodded "You see, a month ago, our lord, the Marquess of Caelin, sent us on a mission to the Sacae Plains to look for his daughter, Lady Madelyn."

Lyn was wide eyed at this "M-Madelyn?"

Kent nodded "You see, 18 years ago, the Lady Madelyn eloped with a Sacaen Nomad, who, at the time, our lord thought to be 'inadequate', so to speak, to be Madelyn's husband. Time passed and soon, our lord just refused to accept Lady Madelyn as his own daughter."

Lyn's hands formed into fists as she listened to the story

"But, six months ago, our lord received a letter from none other than Lady Madelyn." continued Sain "In the letter, it said that she, her husband, and their daughter of 16, were living quite happily in the plains. The marquess was ecstatic to learn that he was a grandfather and almost moved to tears when he read his granddaughter's name, as it was the name of his departed wife."

Mark could tell that Lyn had already figured it out, but she still wanted to be sure

"What was her name?" asked Lyn

"Lyndis" said Kent

Lyn looked down "That's…my name"

Sain and Kent nodded "I had only need to see your face to know that you were Lady Madelyn's daughter. Your resemblance to her is strikingly surreal."

"You could practically be her twin; equally as beautiful" Sain said trying to lighten the mood, only to get elbowed in the stomach by Kent.

Lyn kept her stare down to the floor "To my tribe…I was always Lyn, but when I was with my parents, just the three of us…I was Lyndis…I never thought I would hear that name again"

Lyn looked up and Sain and Kent saw her barely holding her tears.

"Tell me, do I really have a grandfather? Am I really not alone in this world?"

'_Lyn…' _Mark turned away _'You've suffered enough' _he saw Lyn wiping away her eyes before her tears fell.

"Wait!" Lyn then remembered something the bandit leader said "That bandit…the one who ordered the others to kill me, he called me Lyndis too!"

Sain and Kent were both surprised "Are you certain milady?"

Lyn nodded gravely

"Then…that means he was a henchman of Lundgren wasn't he?" said Sain, thinking that the journey back is going to be much harder than anticipated

"Who is this Lundgren and why does he want me dead?" demanded Lyn

"Lord Lundgren is Lord Hausen's younger brother. When Lady Madelyn left, the position of Marquess was to be bestowed upon him…but now…" Kent sighed

"What you mean is that, because of Lyn, Lundgren's position as ruler of Caelin is in jeopardy, and so he wants her dead" spoke Mark, a bit bluntly but no less the truth.

Lyn looked at Mark and then back at the knights "But, I have no interest in any title!"

"Sadly milady, you're uncle might not see it like that" said Sain in a sad tone

"Then there's only one option…isn't there?" Lyn sighed "Alright, I'll go with you to Caelin"

The knights nodded "Thank you milady. I know that together, we will be able to stop Lundgren" spoke Kent.

-Later in the afternoon, back at the inn

"Mark, I'm sorry but this changes everything, at least for me" said Lyn as she sat on her bed

"I know Lyn" Mark responded while looking out the window

"What will you do?"

"What would you like me to do?" asked Mark, turning to look at Lyn

"It might be a bit selfish of me, but…I'd like for you to come with me to Caelin" she looked up as she spoke, their eyes meeting

Mark smiled "Okay then. I'll go"

"That's it, just like that?" Lyn was a bit stunned "I thought you had your own travels to worry about."

Mark shook his head "Don't worry about that. I am a tactician for hire, a mercenary if you will. But I'm working for free for you. After all, I do owe you for saving my life back in the plains, and you are my friend."

Lyn had a slight blush at the mention of the word friend "Friends? Yeah. I guess we are. Thank you Mark."

-That night

Mark was turned to look at the window while he was lied down on his bed, giving his back to Lyn who was on the other bed.

'_One mess after the other. I shouldn't have agreed' _he let out a silent sigh

Lyn, on the other hand, also wasn't sleeping

'_I wonder…Mark said he wanted to go to Caelin, but when I asked him why, he seemed to think of a reason'_

She turned slightly to look at him and saw only his back. She lied back down

'_Could he have…no, that's absurd, but…' _she turned around and stared at the bundle resting against Mark's bed _'Is Mark...hiding something?'_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: First, I want to say I'm sorry for taking so long to update. Second, I made a few slight changes to chapter 2, nothing too big though. Well that's it. Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem. If I did own Fire Emblem, would I be here writing this story instead of making it real? No, I didn't think so. Well, enjoy, hopefully. **

Lyn awoke to the sun shining in her eyes. She groaned and sat up on bed, stretching her muscles and wiped away the sleep from her eyes. She looked towards the other bed, expecting to see Mark there, but it was empty and tidied up. She looked to the space between their beds and saw that both of their packs were still there but when she looked back to the now empty bed and around the room, all three of Mark's personal items were also missing. She thought about where he might have gone and her conclusion was that he would be either with the knights or taking a stroll around the town. Her thoughts then shifted to the journey they would undertake. It would be a long one, she was sure, and she wasn't sure what would happen when she met her grandfather.

Grandfather…that word brought out another sigh from her lips. 6 months living alone in the plains and now she finds out she has a grandfather. It all feels like a dream, living in the plains with no one there but herself, no one to talk to, except for the few visits from her Pegasus friend Florina these last 2 months. Florina…the first 4 months after her tribe was decimated she spent alone. The last 2 months however, she was lucky she met Florina or else she might have gone insane. A smile crossed her face as she remembered how they met.

**-Flashback-**

"**Ahhh, the water feels nice today" moaned Lyn at the feel of warm water on her skin**

**She was bathing in the river about a half a mile away from her house, wanting to get the muck and grime from her hair, skin and clothes. She had already cleaned her clothes which were laid out on a rock on the river bank when she decided to take a nice, long relaxing soak in the water. She closed her eyes and sank lower in the water until she was completely submerged. **

**After a few minutes she came up for air and saw something flying overhead. She narrowed her eyes to get a clearer picture but she still couldn't make out what it was. Then she thought she heard someone screaming. All of a sudden she saw another object getting closer and closer, this object seemed to be the one screaming. Lyn finally made out the object, which was a little girl, and her eyes widened as she noticed that the girl was going to fall on her. All too soon, the girl fell on top of Lyn and a splash of water rose up. Lyn stood and after coughing a little bit, she looked at her lap and saw the now unconscious girl. She had lavender hair and blue armor on her chest, shoulders, wrists, and knees. Lyn then heard something behind her and turned to it and came face to mouth. The mouth then opened up and a tongue lashed out in the next second, which then proceeded to lick her from chin to forehead. She froze at this and wished she hadn't left her sword back home. She passed a wet hand over her face to get rid of the saliva, and then got a clear look at the creature. It was a Pegasus. Lyn then felt the girl stir and turned to the girl in her lap only to see her shakily get up and looked at Lyn who looked back. They stared at each other for a few seconds in complete silence before the girl suddenly screamed and accidentally hit Lyn in the face with her head. Lyn fell backwards into the water and when she came out of the small daze she was in rose up and held her now hurting nose. She was angry and tried to locate the girl who hit her so she could make her explain her sudden actions, until Lyn saw her trembling behind a tree while she peeked out a little bit to look at Lyn. **

**Lyn sighed and tried to get her anger to down and then asked "Can I ask why did you scream and hit me in the face?" she asked, anger pretty evident in her words**

**The girl 'eeped' and hid even further into the tree, if that was even possible. **

"**I-I-I though you w-w-were going to at-attack m-me" spoke the girl**

"**Why would I attack-ow!" Lyn held her hurting nose and thought **_**'What a great day for me to leave my vulneraries too. What else did I leave that would have been helpful?"**_

**After feeling the pain dwindle a bit she continued "I am not going to attack you, alright, don't worry, now can I ask you your name? Mine's Lyn by the way"**

**The girl was still cowering behind the tree studying the older woman. She seemed trustworthy enough and didn't feel like a bad person so the girl decided to tell her name.**

"**I-Its F-Flo-ri-rina"**

"**Florina, alright Florina, now why is it that you're hiding behind the tree anyway?"**

"**W-well, I-I-I'm scared of m-m-men" she answered truthfully**

"**But I'm not a man" answered Lyn growing a small tick mark at the prospect of this girl thinking she was manly**

"**I'm a-a-a-als-s-s-o scared of s-s-strangers"**

'_**What else is she scared of?' **_**thought Lyn**

"**Well, don't worry, like I said, I'm not going to hurt you, you shouldn't be scared alright?" said Lyn with a smile**

**The girl nodded after deciding that Lyn was trustworthy or at least, wasn't going to try anything, but just as Florina was going to come out of hiding behind tree, she sneezed and hugged herself out of the sudden coldness she was feeling. Lyn noticed and got out of the water and wrapped a cloth she brought around herself and walked over to Florina. She knelt before the girl and placed a hand over her forehead only to pull it back. **

"**You're burning up!"**

"**S-s-sorry *achoo!* I'm just n-n-not used t-t-t-t-to the su-sud-d-den temp-pe-perature ch-ch-change"**

"**Well you need medicine that's for sure and rest. But first we need to get you out of that wet armor"**

**Florina 'eeped' again at the thought of undressing for a stranger she just met and bumped Lyn in the nose again.**

"**OW!" Lyn held her nose again and glared at the girl "Florina, why did you hit me again!?" only to notice that Florina had a glazed look in her eyes. **

**Lyn poked her in the head and she fell back on the ground. **

**Lyn sighed "I hope this isn't also a regular thing…"**

**Days passed after that as Lyn tended to Florina at her ger. The moment when Florina regained consciousness, she had looked through the room and after not seeing her Pegasus almost sat up and rushed out if Lyn hadn't held her down and told her, after Florina asked where her Pegasus was, that she was outside perfectly fine. Throughout these days Lyn got to know Florina better. She now knew Florina came from Ilia to the west and had two older sisters who were both Pegasus Knights from Ilia. Apparently Florina decided to become a Pegasus Knight because of her oldest sister, Fiora, whom Florina held in very high esteem. She also found out why Florina fell of her Pegasus and it was apparently because she lost control of her Pegasus, something which doesn't happen often between the rider and her Pegasus and it had really hurt Florinas confidence. But after a few choice words from Lyn Florina felt better. A week later Florina and her Pegasus, Makar, were back on their way to Ilia after saying goodbye to Lyn, but every week Florina would come visit Lyn in the plains. **

**-End of Flashback-**

Lyn wondered what Florina was doing now. The last time Florina visited she told Lyn she was finally able to take the test to become a real Ilian Pegasus Knight. Lyn remembered how she had to calm Florina down as the girl was very nervous about the test. That had been a week ago.

"I wonder if Florina passed her test…" wondered Lyn only for her to suddenly smack her head "I forgot to send a letter to Florina about my journey…" Lyn started thinking "I think there was a Pegasus delivery service in town, I hope there not in the middle of a job, I'll have to write my letter quickly then," Lyn then cast her head down "But I didn't buy any materials…" Lyn sighed "Hopefully the knights have some spare ink and a sheet of paper I can borrow."

With that, Lyn got out of bed and went to get dressed. A few seconds later, after she had put on her shirt someone knocked on her door.

"Lady Lyndis, are you there? It's me, your gallant knight of Caelin, may I come in?"

Lyn groaned and was very tempted not to answer and leave through the window but decided against it since she was half dressed.

"Yes Sain, I'm here and no you can't come in, what is it?" barely keeping the irritation out of her voice

On the other side of the hallway, Sain faltered a bit at being rejected, again, but answered Lyn's question.

"Sir Mark told me that if you had some unfinished business in the city that you should take care of it soon and asked me to accompany you in case any more bandits or cutthroats appear."

Lyn had the almighty urge to yell at Mark for this but after a few seconds, was able to gain control of her anger (again).

"So tell me, where are Mark and Kent?" she asked as she kept dressing.

"They are discussing over the course of our marvelous journey to the Caelin Canton." answered Sain.

"Alright" Lyn then decided to ask Sain her request "Sain, by any chance, do you have some ink, a quilt and a sheet of paper I can borrow?"

Sain immediately answered "But of course Milady, I'll be right back."

After Sain left, Lyn finished dressing and took a moment to mentally prepare herself for prolonged "Sain exposure"…and to think of how to write the letter.

OOOOooooooOOOOoOoooOooooOoOOOOOooOOOOoOOooOooOOOOO OOOOOOOOooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOoooOOoooOOooooOOOOOOoo oooOOoOOOOoooOo

"So… who did you wrote to, milady?" asked Sain as they both left the Pegasus Delivery Service.

"A friend, she visits me every week, so I want to let her know where I'm heading." Lyn answered

And so it began…

"Ah! I can only imagine she is quite lovely if she is milady's friend!" Sain preached, eliciting a groan of annoyance from his escort.

"Yes, and I expect you to behave in her presence if we ever meet her. I will not allow you to traumatize her with your ways." Lyn responded

This seemed to have been expected, as he swiftly moved to his next response: "Oh, you wound me with your words, have I not shown myself to be gallant when conversing with someone as lovely as yourself?" Lyn sighed and was about to respond until someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her into the alleyway they passed.

"Lady Lyndis!" Sain quickly followed.

"S-Stay back!" spoke the man. "O-or the girl dies!" he held a knife to Lyn's neck as he held one of her arms behind her in grip.

Sain complied without a second thought. He looked at the man; rugged clothing, dirty disheveled hair that reached his shoulders. Dirt matted his hands, feet and nails as well. From what he saw the man was also missing a few teeth.

"N-now, give me all your gold, o-or she gets it!" he pressed his knife more against her neck, drawing a bit of blood.

Sain gave a slight nod and slowly moved his hands to his money pouch on his belt. He slowly untied it while getting trying to assess the situation like Kent has told him to do many, many times. He could tell easily that this man had never robbed anyone before as his hands trembled, his eyes were wide with fear, and the way his legs quaked was also a giveaway. But, new to robbery or not, Lady Lyndis was in danger and he could not afford to do anything risky. He finally untied the knot and lifted the pouch to show the man.

"G-good. Throw it-" the man stopped suddenly and Lyn felt him stiffen up.

The knife fell from his arms and his body lurched forward, pushing Lyn to the ground. Sain dropped his pouch and quickly went to help Lyn. After helping Lyn to her feet, they looked forward to the man but saw nothing except the darkness of the alleyway. Suddenly they saw something drip in front of them. They looked down and saw it was a red liquid. Blood. They looked up and saw the man suspended in the air, choking on his own blood. Suddenly the man was slammed into the left wall of the alleyway. Scraped through it and then slammed into the right wall. Lyn and Sain averted there gaze as the man was repeatedly slammed into the walls of the alleyway leaving bloody imprints on the walls. Then the man was dropped down onto the ground. They looked back and saw something coming from the man's back, a black tendril. Suddenly it retreated out of him and disappeared into the ground. A cloaked figure then walked out of the shadows from the alleyway. Sain moved in front of Lyn. The man smiled, though they couldn't see, bowed in a gentlemanly manner and magic circles appeared above and below him. They passed over his body and as they did he started disappearing. After the man disappeared, Sain let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Lady Lyndis, are you ok?" After he turned back to her.

But Lyn didn't answer. She kept her gaze directed towards the spot where the cloaked man once was. It wasn't until Sain shook her by the shoulders that she broke out of the trance she seemed to be in.

"Lady Lyndis, are you alright?" asked Sain again, concern filling his words.

Lyn stared at him a few moments but she shook her head "Don't worry Sain, I-I just feel a bit tired."

Sain looked like he wanted to say something else but just nodded "Then we should head back to the Inn."

Lyn nodded and they started walking back. But Lyn stopped for a moment and looked back. She looked at the corpse of the robber and the spot where the cloaked man was. Lyn shook her head and walked after Sain. One thing that didn't leave was a nagging feeling. A feeling that that man seemed familiar.

OOOOOOooOooOOoOoooooOOooOOoOooooOOOOOOOoooOOOOoOOo PooOOOoOOOOOOOOOOOoOOOOOOOooooooooooooOOoooooooooo oooooooooOOOOOO

The door to Mark and Kent's room opened and they looked to the entering Sain.

"Ah Sain, how is the Lady Lyndis?" asked Kent

"Well…" Sain scratched the back of his head.

"Sain, what happened?" Kent stood up "Did something happen to the Lady Lyndis?"

Sain sighed and explained what happened.

Kent closed his eyes for a moment, and then sighed, once again looking at Sain "You did well to react carefully to the man, he was obviously desperate, but you should be more alert in the future when guarding her, if it weren't for this unexpected passerby Lady Lyndis might have suffered worse than that scrape."

"I know, I know. You don't have to remind me."

Kent and Sain then noticed how silent Mark was. When they turned to look at him, they saw he was contemplating.

"What are you thinking, Sir Mark?" asked a curious Kent.

Mark closed his eyes "I'm more concerned about that stranger. Who was he, and why did he help you?" Mark opened his eyes and looked to them both "We can't be sure if he's an ally or an enemy, but we can be sure he means no harm to Lady Lyndis if he saved her."

They nodded seeing this as true.

Mark then stood up. "Sain, Kent, I will go and check up on Lady Lyndis. I want to make sure she's alright."

They nodded and Mark went and exited the room.

Mark stood in front of his and Lyn's room and knocked.

"Lyn, are you alright?"

He heard ruffling of sheets inside. She most likely fell asleep.

"Mark?" Lyn's sleepy voice spoke.

"Sorry to disturb you, I just wanted to make sure if you felt… odd."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just…felt sleepy all of a sudden. I must have fallen asleep."

Mark nodded, even though Lyn could not see it. "May I come on?"

"Yes, of course."

Mark opened the door and saw Lyn on her bed with her boots resting on the floor in the front of her bed.

"Did Sain tell you what happened?" she asked as she watched Mark walk to his bed.

Mark nodded. "He also told me of the mystery man that saved you." Mark sat down on the bed.

"What did you discuss then?"

"Kent and I decided on the best route towards Caelin. It wouldn't take us more than a month, if no detours are taken. Also, even though that man saved you, if we meet him again, we must be wary. We don't know his reasons for saving your life, and we cannot trust him for any reason."

Lyn nodded "I agree. I was thinking the same, but…"

"Yes?"

Lyn shook her head "It's nothing. Forget it."

Mark nodded, deciding not to press the issue.

"So, where is our journey taking us?" asked Lyn

"From here we would go south. It should be a 2 to 3 day trip to the next village."

Lyn nodded, "But, could we make a quick stop?"

"Oh, to where?" asked a curious Mark

"I would like to go east first. There's a temple all Sacaens visit there before a journey."

"And you would like to pray at it I presume?"

"Yes. I would rather not leave on a journey without first praying at that temple like the Sacaens before me who left on a journey."

"Then it's settled. We'll go to this temple to the east. After that we'll be on our way."

Lyn smiled "Thank you Mark."

"I'll go and tell Kent and Sain, and then we can leave tomorrow morning. Is that alright?"

Lyn nodded "Yes, it is fine."

"Good." Mark smiled "Then get some rest, you must be feeling tired."

With these words, Mark left Lyn to rest for the rest of the morning and went to tell the knights of the detour and to prepare for the journey.

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_The Sacaen Temple; the resting place of the sacred sword, Mani Katti. It is a place where Sacaens come to pray for a safe journey. By touching the Mani Katti and praying, all Sacaens that have left on a journey have always come back with stories to tell. Very few are the ones that do not. And even fewer are the ones that do not visit this temple. It is in this very temple that Lyn will start her journey. A journey of secrets; that will reveal many, and leave few unanswered. _

**Chapter 2: Temple of Spirits.**

"We have made it" spoke Lyn

"Is this the temple you spoke of, Milady?" asked Kent as he scoured the surroundings from the small hilltop they were on.

Lyn nodded "Inside the temple is a blade called the Mani Katti. It has been tradition that any Sacaen that leaves for a journey, should come to this temple and pray on the blade."

"Ah. Permit me to be blunt for a moment milady, but what makes this temple special?"

"Well Kent, it is said this temple is attuned to the world of spirits. And the Mani Katti is a special blade as well."

"How so Beauteous Milady?" asked Sain, and once again ignored by Lyn.

"The blade itself has never been drawn from its scabbard by anyone. It is said that the blade is awaiting its one true master and that it has been resting in this temple since the time of the Scouring."

Kent and Sain looked at Lyn with wide eyes, and for Sain, and open mouth as well.

"But…But that was over eight-hundred years ago!" exclaimed a surprised Sain "That's a very long time considering the amount of Sacaens that must have passed through here."

Lyn nodded and looked to her left where Mark was, a very silent Mark with a concentrated gaze towards the temple.

"Mark, is something wrong?"

Mark broke out of his thoughts and turned to Lyn "No, no. Everything's fine, don't worry. I was just-"

Mark wasn't able to continue because they all turned to the sound of footsteps. When they looked back to the temple, they saw an elderly woman running up towards them.

"Travelers!" she called out and slowed to a stop in front of the group. She let out a slight rugged breath.

"Excuse me, travelers; are you all heading towards the temple?"

"Why, yes. We were. Is something the matter?" asked Lyn

"Please Milady, you must help the priest!"

"Why, is something wrong?"

The woman nodded "Yes there is. A band of ruffians headed inside the temple. I heard their leader saying something about stealing the sacred sword!"

"They plan to steal the Mani Katti!?" exclaimed a shocked Lyn "I will not let that happen. Don't worry ma'am, we will stop them."

The woman smiled "Oh thank you milady! Please be careful."

And with that the woman ran to her house, to the south of Lyn's group.

"Lady Lyndis, what's the plan?" asked a smiling Sain

"Mark?" Lyn turned to him

"Hmmm, first, we need to ascertain the amount of bandits. Lady Lyn." Lyn gave a slight glare. "*cough* I meant Lyn." She gave a slight nod "As the fastest member of our group, I need you to go and check their numbers."

Lyn and Sain nodded, but Kent did not "I must disagree with this plan."

They all turned to him. "Is something wrong with it, Sir Kent?" asked Mark

"I do not mean that the plan is wrong Sir Mark, just who should accomplish it."

"Oh, and why, Kent, is I going wrong?"

"Milady, you must understand, as the granddaughter of Marques Caelin your safety is of the utmost importance. I cannot, in good conscience, allow you to be in danger such as what you would be if you would undertake this mission. If you were seen by the enemy, you could be killed."

"Kent, I understand what you're saying but Mark is our tactician. If he knew of another way to ascertain the enemy strength I'm sure he would tell us. As it is now, he doesn't, and we cannot keep wasting more time lest we lose the Mani Katti. I'm sorry Kent, but I'm going whether you approve or not."

Lyn had already made sure her sword was securely strapped and after saying these words, dashed forward towards temple, ignoring Kent's call for her to stop.

"Milady!" Kent was about to follow with his horse but Sain blocked his path with his. "Sain!"

"Kent, calm down." Sain set a mild glare to Kent "Look, I know protecting the Lady Lyndis is our duty, and I know that you want her to arrive safely in Caelin as much as me, but it's not like we can make her not fight. From what we know she's been living alone for six months, fending for herself and most likely fighting bandits alone. If she's survived like that for six months, while trying to get over the fact that her tribe died, I'm quite sure she can protect herself."

"Sain…" Kent was shocked. This was one of Sain's rare moments where he isn't the womanizing goofball he normally is. Kent sighed "Fine. I'll trust your judgement. "

He turned to Mark "I am sorry for doubting your skills as a tactician Sir Mark."

Mark waved it off "Do not worry Sir Kent. You aren't the first to doubt my tactics; I've gotten used to it by now. And I do understand your concern for Lyn. I also want to help her see her grandfather in Caelin."

Kent was about to ask but was interrupted.

"Lyn's approaching." Said Mark

Sain and Kent looked forward and truth to Mark's word, Lyn was indeed coming back.

"Milady, are you alright?" asked Kent

Lyn nodded "Yes I am."

"So Lyn, how many bandits are there?"

"Well, from what I saw, there's a cracked wall on the east wall, I was able to look through it and I saw two bandits inside, including their leader. I also saw a small rock formation on the south and when I made it to the other side, two more bandits were guarding the entrance. There was also a bandit patrolling outside. He spotted me but I was able to quickly take care of him before he alerted any of his friends."

Mark nodded "Thank you for the information. Now, the plan will be as follows. I and Lyn will cross the rock formation on the south to get to the entrance. Sir Sain, Sir Kent, you two will head towards the cracked wall. When I give you the signal, break it. Your horses will easily do the trick. After that, you will lure the bandits to follow you. Their leader will more than likely stay behind and orders his cronies, plus the ones guarding the entrance, to follow the both of you. I'm sure you two can take care of a few bandits. While that happens Lyn and I will head inside and confront their leader."

They all nodded.

"Good. Then let's go."

The group of four headed towards the temple. Sain and Kent found the cracked wall and waited until Lyn and Mark climbed to the top of the rock formation. It looked like a pile of rocks had all been piled up in that part of the temple, for whatever reason they didn't know, but they were sure their horses could not cross it without getting hurt; apparently Mark had known this. They saw Mark give the signal, an open palm then immediately closed into a fist and they reared their horses back so they could hit the wall with their hooves. It took two hits and the wall broke down.

"What in the…!" the leader stared at the dust cloud that formed from the wall crumbling down. Suddenly a knight clad in green armor rode forward and raised his lance, stabbing at the unsuspecting brigand in the middle of his temple. The two outside the temple immediately rushed inside only to see their comrade get a lance run through his head. The knight removed his lance and stood in the middle of the temple, looking heroic with his lance poised in the air.

"Pathetic brigands! I, Sain, Greatest of Knights, have come to defeat you!"

Sain then looked around and saw two brigands brandishing their axes in front of him near the entrance, and when he looked behind he saw the leader, looking quite angry.

"I, Sain…" the brigands waited for his next move "Will mount a strategic retreat!" and with that, Sain rode towards the broken wall and out to safety.

The bandits were dumbfounded except for the leader who was seething with rage. "What are you waiting for you fools!? AFTER HIM!" the two brigands then ran after Sain through the broken wall.

Mark and Lyn were looking from the entrance of the temple, wondering why did Sain have to be so over-the-top. But considering the plan worked perfectly, they weren't going to complain.

They headed inside and faced the bandit leader.

"Oh, ain't this just DANDY. More damn annoyances today. First the priest, then that idiot knight, and now you two." He took out his sword. "I'm going to take my sweet time torturing ya before I kill ya! I am Glass, the swordsman whose skill is feared upon by even the gods themselves!"

And with that, Glass rushed forward toward Lyn, who unsheathed her sword and blocked Glass' strike. They were deadlocked in battle. Glass pushed Lyn back with only one hand holding his sword and he struck Lyn with a fist with his other hand. Lyn dodged and jumped back. Lyn ran forward this time and stabbed towards Glass. Glass raised his sword and blocked Lyn's attack by redirecting it to his left with his sword. Lyn was momentarily shocked but quickly recovered and used this chance to duck and roll, putting a small amount of distance between herself and her enemy. Glass raised his sword in front of him and wore a very confident smirk on his face. Lyn glared at her opponent and raised her sword vertically in front of her. They stared at each other down before they rushed forward. They each swung their swords only to be met by the others. The battle then turned into a battle of blocks and deadlocks as neither swordfighter could get the upper hand. Lyn possessed better speed but Glass was stronger, more defensive and had more skill and experience than her. Glass raised his sword above his head to block and overhead slice from Lyn and then punched her in the face with his free hand. Lyn was stunned for a second, but that was all Glass needed as he swung his sword in a horizontal arc. Lyn barely jumped back, but her shirt was split in half down the middle and a nasty gash running across the middle of her chest. Lyn looked towards Glass' smirking face as he dashed forward and swung a mad vertical slash to her neck. Lyn raised her sword just in time to stop the swing before it removed her head from her body. Lyn ducked down completely and swept Glass' feet from right under him. Glass tumbled down back. Lyn did not lose any momentum as she easily stood up and stabbed down. Glass, seeing as he wasn't going to be able to block the sword with his quickly enough, opted to stop the enemy sword with his free hand. Lyn was surprised but kept pushing down, but Glass being stronger than her was able to keep the sword from getting any closer to his chest. Glass, while holding Lyn's sword in his now bleeding hand, raised his sword and stabbed Lyn's waist. Lyn felt the sword enter and in her shock lost her grip and Glass overpowered her.

"Here, have your sword back!" still gripping Lyn's sword by the blade, he stabbed Lyn in the chest.

He then removed his sword from Lyn's left waist, not before giving it a satisfying twist; hit her face with the hilt of his blade. Lyn tumbled back with a broken nose. She raised a shaking hand to her bleeding side in a futile attempt to stop her bleeding and her other hand to her bleeding chest which had stained most of the shirt in blood. Lyn tried to get into a sitting position as best as she could, while Glass took out a vulnerary, opened it, and smeared a bit of the green substance on the wound on his left hand. The wound stopped bleeding after a few seconds but it had not yet healed when Glass stood up and just stared as his opponent tried standing up. He was going to let her stand before finishing her off, he had tired of this game.

Mark looked as Lyn slowly, and painfully stood up.

_Mark sighed "I had hoped it wouldn't have come to this."_

When he saw Lyn finally stood up, he gave his order.

"Lyn. Sheath your sword."

Lyn looked behind her to see Mark next to one of the pillars as he calmly spoke. She gave him an incredulous stare.

"Trust me. You'll be fine. I promise."

Lyn looked from him to Glass who was had slung his sword over his right shoulder and was waiting for her next move. She contemplated it for a moment and looked back to Mark and nodded.

She sheathed her blade slowly, as her strength slowly left her thanks to the bleeding. But, the moment the handle of the sword clicked shut with the sheath, Lyn's eyes suddenly widened as a sudden throb of her heart sounded in her ears. Lyn's eyes suddenly dilated and she blacked out. Mark stared calmly as Lyn's body moved on its own and opened her eyes. When Glass looked at them he suddenly felt a pressure in his chest. Her eyes had changed; he could tell this wasn't the same person he was fighting mere moments ago, this was something else and the color of her eyes had changed to a vibrant-

He averted his gaze as the look on her eyes made him feel weak, insignificant. Lyn just stood there, with her right hand gripping the handle of her sword. They stayed like that for a few minutes before Glass decided to charge, forgetting what his instinct told him and just wanting to finish the fight, as with Lyn's injuries, this would take no more than a few seconds. How right he was.

Lyn immediately unsheathed her sword faster than what a human should be able to, and extended her left leg forward while getting into a crouching stance, touching the tip of her sword with the palm of her hand. The moment Glass got within range; Lyn seemed to split apart into three. They all disappeared and before Glass registered what happened, Lyn appeared in front of him once again, giving her back to him. He just stood there as Lyn sheathed her sword and thought

'_What…just…happened…?' _

And with a click of Lyn's sword with her sheath, blood erupted from his wounds as his body split in six.

Mark, though, saw the whole thing clearly. When she disappeared, she had gone so fast that a normal person would never be able to see it; even a trained veteran of war would have been almost unable to see it. She had first appeared below Glass slashing his body from his right waist to his left shoulder, used the momentum of the attack to jump into the air, seemed to stop in the air and propelled herself forward slashing from his right shoulder to his left waist and when she was behind Glass, spun quickly and cut Glass from hip to hip with a dash swing. Her attack ended there as she appeared in front of Glass. The attack itself took approximately… 2 seconds.

Lyn looked with the same blank stare at Mark and saw him smile, but his smile seemed different. It wasn't a happy smile, no. It was…

Lyn suddenly coughed, vomited blood and regained consciousness. She looked at her hands and saw her blood and looked behind her to see, with a watery vision, at Glass' cut up body. She gave a look of fear to it and turned away and vomited again. She was barely conscious now as she stared at the incoming Mark. When he was near, she saw his lips moving but didn't hear what he spoke before fainting.

"You did a good job …lyn."

oooOoooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooOOOOOOOOOoooooooo OOOOOOOOOoOOOooooOOOooOOOOOOoooooooOOOoooOOOOoooOO OOOOOOOooooOO

Lyndis – Lord level 6

Str – 8

Mag – 5

Skill – 10

Spd – 12

Luck – 10

Def – 5

Res – 2

Mark – Tactician level ?

Str – ?

Mag – ?

Skill – ?

Spd – ?

Luck – ?

Def – ?

Res – ?


End file.
